Charlotte N.C. (CLT) based Saber Cargo Airlines has filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy...and has closed down , victim of the economic slow-down and overly ambitious aircraft purchase.
The carrier which specialized in overnight parts deliveries for the automotive industry , filed June 18th under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code , which typically leads to liquidation.
The filing listed assets of $1.1 Million....and Liabilities of $4.6 Million.
Things never picked up after Sept 11th , said Mike Dockery , Sabers president and 82% stake owner. Dockery stated It''s the same reason everybody else in the airline industry is having trouble
Mike Dockery started Saber in 1991 with three small planes and watched it grow along with the Carolina''s auto-related manufacturing. By 2000 , the company had revenues of about $6 Million , about three dozen employees and eight airplanes...the primary Acft being vintage DC-3 (C-47) Freighters.
In 2000...Saber added a far more expensive Acft to thier inventory , The Freight Door equipped Dassault Falcon 20F Jet that cost about $2.5 Million...and could haul 6000 Lbs. of freight/cargo
Aviation Consultant Morton Beyer stated this The Falcon is a fairly expensive Acft to maintain and operate compared to some other planes , so you have to have a pretty good stream of business and pretty full airplanes to be successfull
David Field , Americas editor of Airline Business magazine said Saber was operating in a bitterly competitive business , dominated by larger companies. It''s very hard for small players to survive in an age of consolidation, crimped by fuel and labor costs , when they have to struggle even harder to get a small slice of the business.
Saber''s business began to drop off the year after the Falcon 20F was purchased , In it''s filing , Saber listed revenues of $2.2 Million in 2002....down from $3.4 Million in 2001.
A 2001 Interview with Mike Dockery said September revenues were less than $150,000 , compared to $650,000 in the same month a year earlier.
Income for the first three months of 2003 was just $187,447 the filing showed. In April the airlines hangar lease at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport (CLT) was terminated.
The airlines creditors include the CLT airport , which is owed $98,000
The largest creditor listed is the Textron Financial Corp. of Atlanta Ga. , which is owed $2.4 Million for the finaced Falcon 20F jet.
Saber has faced other problems and issues besides the economy. October 2001 , Saber''s Bell Ranger helicopter hit some High Voltage power lines near Wilksboro N.C....the crashed killed both the pilot and passenger on board.
2002....The FAA fined Saber $300,000 after finding dozens of incidents of failure to inspect or maintain aircraft from 1998 to 2002. Many of the FAA''s charges involved the crashed Bell Ranger , although the FAA nor the NTSB has suggested that maintenance failures contributed to it''s crash.
The FAA has yet to collect on any of the fines leveled at Saber....and it''s said that the FAA will have to stand in line with the other creditors according to spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.
Saber Continues to hold it''s operating certificate that''s issued by the FAA.
26 June 2003. Mike Dockery stated he would not operate the airline again....but also left open the possiblity that someone else could run it.
AOG-N-IT comments.....being a native of CLT ..and a business related fan of Saber Cargo Airlines , I will miss the droan of thier DC-3 / C-47''s engines over the skies of Charlotte.
Mr. Dockery has a fine fleet of vintage Warbirds....Two of the C-47''s he operates are former Oshkosh Show winners....and are flying in vintage USAAF colors , complete with D-Day Invaision stripes on them.
I hope that Saber can be saved....and I wish Mr.Dockery and his idled employees in CLT all the best....I hope you can make a speedy return to flying again soon.
The carrier which specialized in overnight parts deliveries for the automotive industry , filed June 18th under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code , which typically leads to liquidation.
The filing listed assets of $1.1 Million....and Liabilities of $4.6 Million.
Things never picked up after Sept 11th , said Mike Dockery , Sabers president and 82% stake owner. Dockery stated It''s the same reason everybody else in the airline industry is having trouble
Mike Dockery started Saber in 1991 with three small planes and watched it grow along with the Carolina''s auto-related manufacturing. By 2000 , the company had revenues of about $6 Million , about three dozen employees and eight airplanes...the primary Acft being vintage DC-3 (C-47) Freighters.
In 2000...Saber added a far more expensive Acft to thier inventory , The Freight Door equipped Dassault Falcon 20F Jet that cost about $2.5 Million...and could haul 6000 Lbs. of freight/cargo
Aviation Consultant Morton Beyer stated this The Falcon is a fairly expensive Acft to maintain and operate compared to some other planes , so you have to have a pretty good stream of business and pretty full airplanes to be successfull
David Field , Americas editor of Airline Business magazine said Saber was operating in a bitterly competitive business , dominated by larger companies. It''s very hard for small players to survive in an age of consolidation, crimped by fuel and labor costs , when they have to struggle even harder to get a small slice of the business.
Saber''s business began to drop off the year after the Falcon 20F was purchased , In it''s filing , Saber listed revenues of $2.2 Million in 2002....down from $3.4 Million in 2001.
A 2001 Interview with Mike Dockery said September revenues were less than $150,000 , compared to $650,000 in the same month a year earlier.
Income for the first three months of 2003 was just $187,447 the filing showed. In April the airlines hangar lease at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport (CLT) was terminated.
The airlines creditors include the CLT airport , which is owed $98,000
The largest creditor listed is the Textron Financial Corp. of Atlanta Ga. , which is owed $2.4 Million for the finaced Falcon 20F jet.
Saber has faced other problems and issues besides the economy. October 2001 , Saber''s Bell Ranger helicopter hit some High Voltage power lines near Wilksboro N.C....the crashed killed both the pilot and passenger on board.
2002....The FAA fined Saber $300,000 after finding dozens of incidents of failure to inspect or maintain aircraft from 1998 to 2002. Many of the FAA''s charges involved the crashed Bell Ranger , although the FAA nor the NTSB has suggested that maintenance failures contributed to it''s crash.
The FAA has yet to collect on any of the fines leveled at Saber....and it''s said that the FAA will have to stand in line with the other creditors according to spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.
Saber Continues to hold it''s operating certificate that''s issued by the FAA.
26 June 2003. Mike Dockery stated he would not operate the airline again....but also left open the possiblity that someone else could run it.
AOG-N-IT comments.....being a native of CLT ..and a business related fan of Saber Cargo Airlines , I will miss the droan of thier DC-3 / C-47''s engines over the skies of Charlotte.
Mr. Dockery has a fine fleet of vintage Warbirds....Two of the C-47''s he operates are former Oshkosh Show winners....and are flying in vintage USAAF colors , complete with D-Day Invaision stripes on them.
I hope that Saber can be saved....and I wish Mr.Dockery and his idled employees in CLT all the best....I hope you can make a speedy return to flying again soon.
